A scientific report has revealed that the Nordic heatwave which pushed temperatures above 30C (86F) in the Arctic Circle last July was part of a record-breaking year, with abnormal heat searing more than 95% of Europe. The report, produced by EU's Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), found that temperatures in Europe have risen by 0.56C per decade since the mid-1990s, faster than any other continent, due to fossil fuel pollution.
Scandinavia's Scorching Summer
Parts of Scandinavia endured 21 days of punishingly hot weather, leading to 'tropical nights' in typically cool countries such as Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The report highlights that annual sea surface temperatures across Europe reached the highest levels ever recorded, while snow cover fell by 31% and snow mass by 45% from their average over the last few decades.
Wildfires and Glacier Melt
Hot weather fueled deadly wildfires in 2025 that set large parts of Europe ablaze, with more than one million hectares of land going up in flames—4.7% more than the previous record set in 2017. The Iberian peninsula suffered the worst, with volunteer firefighters in Spain dying as they tried to protect their villages. The burned area in Spain accounted for 38% of the European total.
The heat also melted snow and shrunk glaciers in every region of Europe. Iceland witnessed its second-greatest loss of glacier mass on record, and the Greenland ice sheet lost 139 gigatons of ice in 2025, raising global sea levels by nearly half a millimetre.
Marine Heatwaves
European waters were the hottest ever seen, with a record 86% of its ocean experiencing 'strong' heatwaves at some point in 2025, while 36% experienced 'severe' or 'extreme' heat. This marks the fourth consecutive year of broken sea surface temperature records.
Emergency Warnings
John Hyland from Greenpeace stated, 'All the emergency warning lights are flashing red,' urging governments to take swift action to cut carbon pollution. He warned that rolling back protections places countless people's health, homes, jobs, and livelihoods at risk.
World leaders promised in 2015 to try to limit global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels, but the failure to cut pollution has pushed global heating past 1.3C. Celeste Saulo, secretary general of the WMO, said record greenhouse gas levels have made it 'virtually impossible' to keep global heating below 1.5C without temporarily overshooting the target, emphasizing the need to keep the overshoot as short and shallow as possible.
In February, the EU's scientific advisers urged preparation for 3C of global heating, describing current efforts as insufficient and often coming too late. They called for mandated climate risk assessments, embedding climate resilience into all policies, and increased funding for protective measures. Other experts have called for adaptation measures such as checking on neighbours during heatwaves, improving evacuation warnings, and redesigning cities with more green space.
